Best Disney Dining Plan Counter Service Credit Uses

To get the best bang for your counter service credit “buck” on the 2015 Disney Dining Plan, you will want to eat at the Walt Disney World restaurants on this list. The restaurants here offer the best ‘value maximization’ of counter service Disney Dining Plan credits because they serve the most expensive meals (meaning greater savings), but this list is entirely objective, so best “value” is solely in terms of money, not quality.

This list calculated the most expensive meals by taking the highest combo, dessert, and beverage available on the Dining Plan and adding them together. We did this as opposed to taking the median or mean since, if you’re truly concerned with saving as much money as possible, you’re going to be ordering more expensive menu items. We feel considering only the more expensive menu items is most helpful to Guests looking to maximize the Disney Dining Plan value, but your mileage may vary.

Additionally, since this list contemplates only expensive items, this list is completely objective. If a restaurant “scored” better thanks to its pricier options, it’s on the list, regardless of whether I think its food stinks. It’s very important to consider quality of food, not just prices, when determining where you want to eat. You’re not really getting more “value” for your money if you eat expensive food that you don’t like!

This list has been updated since it was originally written, with prices adjusted and restaurants shuffled around the list, bounced, or added as costs change. Please note that prices here might not be totally accurate as Disney regularly adjusts menu prices, with average increases of just over 5% per year. For our most recent update, Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe joined the list, and a few restaurants moved around, with Be Our Guest Restaurant climbing several spots due to its increased prices.

Which other Walt Disney World counter service restaurants made the list? Let’s take a look!

1. Wolfgang Puck Express – We’ve never eaten at Wolfgang Puck Express at Disney (we don’t eat at restaurants that can be found in the “outside world” at Disney) ourselves so I cannot comment on the quality of the food, but Wolfgang Puck Express once again takes the top spot for “2015 Best Disney Dining Plan Value” for Counter Service restaurants. It’s a great place to maximize the value of your Disney Dining Plan Quick Service credits thanks to the many expensive entrees, especially the salmon and pasta dishes! Total Value: $25.90.

2. Pepper Market – Pepper Market is once again a full-time food court (instead of doing a lunch buffet). This restaurant at Coronado Springs has a lot of options (possibly because of the large convention space?) and a lot of them are expensive. A few of the Chef’s station combos are priced at $14.99 (we highly recommend the ribs!) and many options are priced at $13.99 or above. Each of these combos are served with two sides, making them not only a good value from the perspective of price, but also from the perspective of what you get for your money. Just don’t order the 14″ pizzas, as those require two credits, and as such, are a poor value. Total Value: $24.93.

4. Fairfax Fare – We’re a bit surprised to see this smaller Disney’s Hollywood Studios Counter Service restaurant make the list, but thanks to the Chicken and Spareribs combo, this restaurant ranks highly. Everything else here is fairly average in price, so unless you’re ordering that combo, don’t expect great value here. I tried this combo last year, and was disappointed both in terms of its quality and size, so keep that in mind before just going for it because of the value.Total Value: $22.48.

5. Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe – This is the restaurant that inspired this whole series of posts. When booked the Disney Dining Plan for the very first time, I knew wanted to maximize value, and saw the 1/2 Chicken and BBQ Rib Combination (served with delicious Mashed Potatoes) on menu. After that, I strove to find the best “deals” on other menus. Less experienced at the time, I only found Tangierine Cafe and Sunshine Seasons as the other “best values,” but we made up for that by eating at Cosmic Ray’s many, many times that first trip with the Disney Dining Plan! Since then, we’ve learned a thing or two. 😉 In my experience, the 1/2 Chicken and Rib combo can be hit or miss taste-wise. Sometimes it’s dry and/or rubbery, sometimes it’s flavorful and delicious. Still, Cosmic Ray’s is ranked highly in our Magic Kingdom Counter Service Restaurant Rankings, so you can’t really go wrong. Total Value: $21.77.

6. Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe – Pecos Bill makes the list for the first time in 2015, and its solely due to the newly-added Karubi Style Short Ribs (pictured in the very first photo in this post) that cost $14+ and are only available on the dinner menu. As I said in my Pecos Bill Restaurant Review, these short ribs are not going to be for everyone, so if you don’t want them, don’t come here looking for a good value. While I thought they tasted excellent, with smoky and tender meat, there was a ton of fat on them and they were really greasy. Total Value: $21.67.

7. Be Our Guest Restaurant (Lunch Only) – Even a couple years after opening, this lavishly themed restaurant in New Fantasyland is still inundated by crowds. Unsurprisingly, its prices have risen at a higher rate than other restaurants on the list, raising its ranking in the process. It now accepts Advance Dining Reservations (the only counter service restaurant to do so), too. If you’re able to get a table here, you’ll find interesting & delicious cuisine, an awesome environment, and somewhat expensive options. We really like Be Our Guest Restaurant, and think it’s a good place with unique options. It’s somewhere you should eat regardless of whether you’re on the Disney Dining Plan, as it’s like an attraction in itself, but that’s doubly true if you’re on the Disney Dining, as you can get some bang for your buck! Total Value: $21.17.

8. Cooke’s of Dublin – Cooke’s moves up several spots in 2013. It’s another Downtown Disney restaurant, and another restaurant at which we haven’t eaten. (The only place we’ve eaten at Downtown Disney, for what it’s worth, is Earl of Sandwich, which is awesome.) The Georges Bank Atlantic Scallops offer the best value here. Total Value: $20.45.

9. Katsura Grill – This fairly new restaurant joins the list thanks mostly to its sushi combos, but an above-average dessert also helps give it the bump. Some dishes at Katsura Grill have large portions, especially the pricier “combos,” but many dishes are large by virtue of containing a large amount of rice. Katsura Grill is fairly divisive. We like Japanese cuisine, and we think Katsura Grill is a fairly good option for Epcot (it’s listed highly on our Epcot Counter Service Restaurant Rankings) for having a number of solid options! Total Value: $20.24.

10. Sunshine Seasons – If you’ve ever read this site, it may not be surprising to hear that we’re pretty happy to see Sunshine Seasons make this list. Everything at “The Grill” is above $10, plus the (amazingly decadent) desserts are $3.99 or so. Our top picks include the Oak-fired Rotisserie Half Chicken and the Key Lime Pie. It’s high on our list of the Top 10 Counter Service Restaurants at Walt Disney World, so don’t pass up this gem just because it’s in Future World instead of the more culinary-oriented World Showcase at Epcot. Total Value: $20.07.

Really, once you get past the first five restaurants on this list, there’s not much that separates the remaining Counter Service Walt Disney World restaurants. Much like the New York Strip Steaks being the cornerstone of the Table Service list, “Combos” (usually chicken and ribs) seem to be pretty common on this list. Just because a restaurant isn’t on this list doesn’t mean you shouldn’t dine there, either. After #10 on this list, you can find a lot of Counter Service restaurants with $18-19 in “total value,” meaning the difference between #6 on this list and not being on this list is sometimes only around $1-2. With that little at stake, you really ought to just eat where you want if the menus for these restaurants don’t look appealing!

You can find an entree that costs at least $9 at almost every Counter Service restaurant, and desserts and drinks are typically pretty close in price at these restaurants. Overall, the price differences at Counter Service restaurants are less drastic than they are at Table Service restaurants, but you can still come out pretty far ahead by eating at the right Counter Service restaurants.

I’ll vouch for Flame Tree. I always make it a point to stop off for some ribs there and have never been disappointed. Not a bad selection of sauces either. Not the best, but certainly nothing to sneeze at.

The kicker though is the ambience. Any of the early seats you can take will be great, with ponds, lush jungle foliage, and great Disney theming, but make a point to wander to a table all the way in the back, towards the water, and get an outstanding view of Everest across the water.

Flame Tree BBQ is awesome. I don’t think you’ll find many people who don’t like it!

HeidiSeptember 13, 2011

I am one of the few people who does NOT like Flametree BBQ. I found the food to be dry…corn muffin, baked beans and chicken…all of it was dry. My son’s chicken leg was shriveled to virtually a bone with skin attached. However, I found most revolting the birds! What some people refer to as “ambiance” I call a health hazard. Birds were attacking our table and dropping feathers on our food. YUCK. Sorry, I definitely wanted to like it. Much prefer Pizzafari…which gets a bad rap on its own.

RobertMarch 30, 2012

I don’t care HOW Flametree stacks up in the “value” department – it WINS the TASTE category with NO CONTENDERS EVEN CLOSE!!

Big thumbs up to this. It’s my FAVORITE restaurant in Disney’s Animal Kingdom. I wish I could have added it to the ‘best value’ list (and it was very close, like #11, 12, or 13, I think), but it just didn’t quite make the cut!

Deb. CSeptember 16, 2011

Wolfgang Puck Express is wonderful…some of the best food on Disney property! The servings are so big that you could easily share and get more bang for your dining bucks. I’ve even used a counter service credit for breakfast (something I don’t normally do) and I’m going back to do it again. Another favorite of mine is Contempo Cafe in the Contemporary. Their honey lime grilled chicken with house made chips is amazing.

I totally agree with Deb. Wolfgang Puck Express is absolutely delicious and that applies to whatever meal you’re eating (breakfast, lunch and dinner). A very close second in quality and “bang for dining buck” is the Earl of Sandwich. Two fabulous eateries that we try to eat at numerous times each visit.

Love the gourmet pizzas at Wolfgang Puck Express! We could have split a meal, but we ended up taking pizza with us to snack on later. It’s an excellent, high-value use of counter service credits. Also can’t get enough of Earl of Sandwich, but I would never use DDP credits. The Earl is the best value on Disney property.

Great Post! It’s nice to see some one else think the way I do. I am surprised not to see FlameTree BBQ not on the list. It is another one that you can get excellent value for a credit. I started doing this a number of years ago as I take my band to WDW for Magic Music Days performances. As part of the MMD package, you can purchase meal coupons for meals in the park. We paid $14 a piece for the coupons on our March 2011 trip. Every meal I used the coupon on totaled close to, if not exceeding $20. Definitely received my moneys worth!

The problem with some of the selections in your article is that the price does not include tip. Most counter service offerings do not require a tip but some, for example, Wolfgang Puck do. This makes them less cost effective overall.

Wolfgang Puck is a quick service. Normally we do not tip for quick service, but they do bring you your food, refills and dessert. I’m not sure that tips are expected, but we usually give a little something to the person providing us with the great service. It certainly is a lot less than what you are expected to pay at a sit down meal. Well worth it I might add.

Where can I find a list of the menus and prices for the quick service meals. I am trying to decide whether to get the plan or not – I don’t want to eat desserts and rarely drink soda so I think it will be a waste for us. Just wanting to check out the prices and I can’t find anything!

Thank you for the very useful link!! I am also deciding whether to buy the DIsney Dining Plan. It appears that BBQ is the best value & being a native Texan, I’m rather picking (and kind of burnt-out) about my barbecue! I prefer eating a little healthier and do not want to feel weighted-down while trying to navigate Disney efficiently (and ride the rides)!

I am traveling with my husband, daughter, and my parents; are there any restaurants that cater to very different tastes (without hitting 3 different locations)? My husband and I like trying new, unusual cuisine and like to eat healthy (for the most-part); however, my parents only eat chicken/beef (American cuisine, with the occasional fried & saucy Asian take-out), mainly fried stuff.

A grateful Texan, who does not eat like a True Texan,
Tina

BrandyJanuary 3, 2013

What about Be our Guest? Isn’t it a higher priced quick service for lunch?

I totally agree with Cookes of Dublin, their fish and chips is a great value – hugh piece of fish.
I would also like to add that the All Star Music resort has nightly meals that are QS. One of which is a roasted 1/2 Chicken, potatoes, green beans, and a roll. Excellent meal — for two!

I have to say I am a big fan of Wolgang Puck Express in Downtown Disney. Not only are there fantastic menu choices, the food is great, and you certainly do get to use your Disney Dining Plan to your benefit. We go there every year we visit Disney, sometimes more than once or twice..and have no complaints. Love Love the food there

We love Wolfgang Puck Express,we eat there three or four times a trip. Have never used a dining credit for it but love the place. Last year we were heading there after we parked by Disney Quest. I know it is on the other side of DTD but we like the walk. We passed a group of about 8 adults who seemed to be racking their brains about where to eat. I walked up to them and asked if they had tried Express yet. And when they asked how the food was I told them it was our fourth trip in a few days. Also showed them on my phone what the menu looked like and told them we were heading there if they wanted to follow. They did and they loved it.. The service there is amazing as well. I had been very sick on our last trip and was not eating alot, when we went the one night all I bought was a bowl of soup . The rest of the family was loving the meatloaf and the kids loved the mac and cheese. The waiter noticed that I had emptyed the bowl very fast. It was amazing soup. Then I noticed that I had not ordered my tea, and still did not have much of a voice. The waiter asked how things were my husband had to tell him for me that I loved the soup it was the most I had eaten in a few days. I tried to tell him but I sounded like a frog. In a few min later he was back with more soup and a very large to go cup of hot tea with lemon for me. No charge at all. This is why we go back as much as we do.. It is the little things that make you keep going back..

This is correct, and the general public offer is now available, as well! Thanks for the heads up!

RobinApril 4, 2013

We always eat at Port Orleans Riverside. There is quite a variety to choose from and if you bring your resort mug, you can also get a bottled drink with your meal. The desserts are great too, including ice cream and a yummy apple dumpling.

Tom,
Great site! We did the Disney Dining Plan last year and were able to order adult meals with our child credits for the QS. I know it’s frowned upon, but our hotel check-in host informed it was possible. In fact, she guided us to go this route since the kids meals were said to be quite poor. Does Disney still group the Adult/Child credits together for 2013?

The QS are not “labeled” as adult or child meals. TS meals however, are.

My 3 year old is very picky and because we will be FORCED to purchase the DDP for her as well, I have no qualms using her QS credits. I will be making the majority of her meals in our villa as she would never eat the items most commonly served to kids at Disney (hotdogs, hamburgers, etc.).

Hello!! I love your blog!! We are traveling with our kids aged 3&5 (it’s their first time) in february and getting the dining plan. I have a question about the counter service meals. Can we all four share two meals (using two credits) and use the remaining two at another time?
Thanks!!
Flor

I wanted to throw out Boardwalk Bakery as an awesome lunch option. For your QS, you get a drink, huge sandwich with a side AND one of their amazing desserts (chocolate bacon brownie anyone?!?!). I’m not sure if it’s the most expensive meal on property but it’s a ton of food. I could argue that the portions are large enough to split into 2 meals.

Be Our Guest was amazing for lunch. The line looked long, but it moved quicker than we expected. It has amazing ambiance, I literally got tears when I first walked into the ball room. It feels more elegant than a quick service meal. I highly recommend this to anyone. We went there for lunch two times in one week, we lived it that much!!!

I can’t believe you omitted Kringla Bakeri Og Kafe from your list! Great food and the desserts are to die for. They include a salad or fruit cup as the side and have awesome iced coffees. our number 1 QS choice.

We learned about Cosmic Rays before we used the Dining Plan the first time. We have discovered most of the others in the list over the years. Love these places. That being said, we went to Sunshine Seasons one time close to closing time and the food was very inferior. Every other time we have eaten there it has been great. So I would say that when you go is almost as important as where you go.

Cosmic Rays, if you ordered just right, was the only halfway decent counter service restaurant I dined at. Perhaps some of the others mentioned would have been good. Tangerine at the Moroccan pavilion in World Showcase looked interesting but never was back in the direction when ready to dine.

Overall the sit-down restaurants, pretty much all requiring advanced reservations, were all good. The counter / quick service ones were by and large inedible. And yet you saw folks consuming large quantities. But then you saw that 70 to 80 percent were obese. This food, like the beignets at Port Orleans resort, fried cardboard.

I just wanted to comment that some of the quick service restaurants not mentioned give more value, when travelling with kids, because there are no kids meal selections, so your kids get adult servings. One of our favorites is the fish and chips at the English pavilion at epcott and the cookies of Dublin fits into this catagorie as well. I’m a little out of date as my kids have been considered adults now for a few years but your value can really go up with full servings.

I was looking at the menus and noticed both on WDW site and all ears that the 1/2 chicken and BBQ rib combo at Cosmic Ray’s are gone. It seems they don’t offer the BBQ ribs at all now, and it’s just the chicken. Anyone been there recently notice this?

Was looking into cosmic rays as well and we noticed this as well. Also looking at Pepper Market what are you considering a combination meal as looking at it seems you only get on entree and not a combination of entrees. Are you considering a combo to be an entree and two sides??

Just got back from WDW on 9/6/14 had Cosmic Ray’s Chicken and Rib combo with mashed potatoes and green beans the first night there. Used DDP and shared the meal with my wife. Both of us enjoyed the food and would recommend this place to anyone.

I just visited the pepper market at condo springs. It is not what it used to be. Not much different from any other disney hotel food court. So sad. Went there years ago when you could get a prime rib dinner with your counter service. Seen it go downyc hill through the years. Wouldn’the go out of my way today.

I love the article, but there are many restaurants to choose from, and sometimes you would like to eat at the parks. It would be a great idea if you do similar reviews for each park dining options. If you have ranked the best 10 restaurants per park, it would be a great help for us.

I hope you decide to do it.

Thanks for taking the time to sharing this information with everybody.

Hi, this may have been answered before. My wife and I will be going to Disney, along with my two children, in August. We have a Quick Service Dining Plan. My question is this, if I go to a restaurant that doesn’t have a kids menu, and therefore, get an adult meal for my children, I presume this is knocked off of the children’s entitlement. Can I then, go and get another two meals and get them to knock those two meals off of my children’s entitlement again, therefore gaining two adult meals to spend somewhere else?